ZS6EZ's Amateur Radio Home Page

'Tis better to have loved and lost, than never to have loved at all.
Alfred Lord Tennyson (1809-1892) in "In Memoriam AHH", 1849.

'Tis better to have loved and lost, than never to have lost at all.
Samuel Butler (1835-1902) in "The Way of All Flesh", Chapter 77, 1903.

'Tis better to be a has-been than never to have been at all.
Chris R. Burger (1964- ) on zs6ez.org.za, title page, 2010.

The Beginnings

I've always been interested in electronics and radio, and probably
played with a Morse key and a buzzer before I could write cursively.
At the time, the minimum age for a ham radio licence was 16, so I
didn't get around to doing anything about it until around my fifteenth
birthday. At that time, my father introduced me to a colleague, who
was presenting amateur radio courses. On Wednesday nights, I would make
the 20 km trip by bicycle. I passed the theory and Morse exams
before my sixteenth birthday, and made my first VHF contact as
ZS6BCR on the big day.

Two days later, I made my first trip to a real amateur radio station,
to my Morse code mentor's shack. Jimmy Momberg ZS6APS stood by and
supervised my first few contacts. From the start, I understood the
importance of QSL cards. I collected my first card in person from
ZS6ALG--again by bicycle--that same day!

My own station consisted of a borrowed FTDX100, a straight key
and a trapped vertical antenna for the first year. During this year, I
made around 1000 contacts with 100 countries on Morse code.

I later discovered that the transmitter was only running about 10 W
due to soft final tubes, and the hand-me-down feedline introduced
over 6 dB of loss, and that roof-mounted verticals actually needed radials.
It didn't seem to matter much, though; at the peak of Solar Cycle 21, I
worked many stations after local midnight on 28 MHz!

I started DXing around that time, and became aware of single-band
DX scores around 1983. I spent several years chasing DX actively,
but as other commitments kept escalating, DXing has faded into the
background. In the Eighties, I did some of my DXing from neighbouring
countries, and over a dozen DXpeditions resulted. Callsigns included
3DA0/ZS6BCR, 3DA0Z, 3DA6Z, A25/ZS6BCR, H5AYB, V51Z, ZS0Z, ZS3Z, ZS9Z,
ZS9Z/ZS1, ZS6BCR/A22 and a guest operation as 7P8EN. The Penguin
Island expeditions were big multi-operator all-band efforts producing
around 56 000 QSOs jointly, but most of the others emphasised the more
exotic bands and modes. Much time was spent on RTTY, CW, low bands
and WARC bands. Out of a total of well over 100 000 contacts, probably
less than 10 000 were made on 14 and 21 MHz.

I also did some DXing from home in the Eighties. On my wall hangs
an assortment of certificates and plaques, including 5BWAZ, 8BWAS (3,5
to 28 MHz), 10BDXCC (1,8 to 50 MHz), Top of the DXCC Honor Roll (Mixed
and Phone), 50 MHz WAC and a few others. The 50 MHz DXCC was perhaps the
hardest. It's hard work from this part of the world, as there's virtually
nothing to work within 8000 km. We also have the lowest incidence of
Sporadic-E propagation on earth. However, Cycle 23 produced some fair
propagation, and with enough time and with some well-placed alerts from the
other die-hards (notably ZS6WB) not too much slipped from my grasp. Mine
was the fifth in Africa, after two ZS6 stations, an EA8 and an EA9.

These Days

These days, much of my involvement in DXing revolves around generating
activity and supporting other operations. I have provided equipment
for several DXpeditions and resident operators, including 3DA/G3SXW,
3DA/G3TXF, 3DA/G4FAM, 3DA0CA, 3DA0Z, 7P8D, C82DX, V5/W0YG, V5/W8UVZ,
ZD9ZM, ZS8D, ZD9IR and ZS8IR. I also acted as liaison for 3DA0CA and ZS8IR,
handling email and other correspondence and acting as advisor for their
low band activities. The NCDXF has always
provided invaluable support, including the printing of over 100 000
QSL cards and a pool of equipment kept locally to support expeditions
in this part of the world. Examples included two ZD9 operations.
ZD9ZM's amplifier plans were thwarted by a delay in factory shipments.
An FL7000 amplifier was shipped from Pretoria to Cape Town at short
notice, to await Bob's arrival from Europe. ZD9IR
was very active, and repeated his impressive ZS8IR performance from
this new location.

I have also been, as ZS6P says, nagging many people into
being active on the bands, with interesting results. My most efficient
nagging device was the Southern African
Band Country Survey, which I maintained to encourage DXers to pursue
competitive DXCC scores on each frequency band. Overseas surveys are not
much good around here, as we face very peculiar challenges, very different
from what a major population centre would present. We have high static
levels, lousy propagation in our winter season, and above all, all
DXpeditions beam away from us and deliberately avoid the optimum times
for propagation to us! However, during the existence of the Survey from 1996
to 2012, the scores skyrocketed. The sustained growth rate seems
to indicate that there was still much room for improvement.

I discontinued the SABCS at the end of 2013, once most participants
have applied for single-band DXCCs on all bands. DXCC had become easy
and affordable with the introduction of LotW, and the extra effort in
soliciting inputs for the Band Country Survey seemed unnecessary. Besides,
the third-party scrutiny provided by DXCC introduces a desirable level of
rigour into the process which a survey cannot provide.

Around 1994, I also assembled a list of "firsts"
on 50 MHz in South Africa. Compiling such a list is not an easy
undertaking. If you can provide any information, please let me know.

My Web site includes the ZS Rogues' Gallery,
including DXCC, contest, WAS, WAZ and other awards records for
South Africans.

In the late Nineties and the Zeros, I still occasionally worked some
DX, but my emphasis had moved into contesting. I was introduced to
contesting around 1983, when I met Hal Lund ZS6WB. He'd been a
contester since the Sixties, when he spent a year on Ascension with
Jim Neiger N6TJ. Of course, Jim has retained his links with the
island to great effect! It was from Hal's station that I managed
my first successes in contesting, and it was from his library that
I learned some tricks of the trade that I couldn't learn by example,
isolated as I was in southern Africa. Hal later lived in the second
house on my farm near Pretoria for a few years.

Other contributors to my develoopment included Tom Gregory N4NW and
Roland Mensch DK3GI. Both spent tours of duty in South Africa. Tom was
the first to show me the tools of the trade, including rigging hardware,
decent feedlines and amplifiers. Roland operated ZS1CT extremely
successfully, and re-wrote the paradigms of what was possible from
southern Africa. No-one had previously considered the possibility that
one might be able to make 4000 contacts from here in a contest. At the
time, as far as I'm aware, no-one had yet exceeded 2500! Finally, there
was Greg Smith ZL3IX (then ZS6BPL and later ZS5K). Greg did more than
anyone else to show that it was possible to work stations below 14 MHz
in a contest, if the right hardware was available. Greg built a two
element full sized Yagi for 7 MHz, and showed the way towards the low
band scores that were to follow a decade later.

In 2016, James Brooks 9V1YC enticed me into a two-man DXpedition to
the Spratly islands. Despite very stormy solar conditions, we managed to
make almost 11 000 QSOs between the two of us, using two radios and
two verticals. The trip defiintely awakened a desire in me to do a few more
DXpeditions in the coming years!

Contesting Highlights

Southern Africa is not the greatest place in the world for contesting,
as we're too far away from the major population centres to create a
major presence on the low bands. However, we can certainly kick up some
dust on the high bands. We're probably not quite as well off as the South
Americans, as their trans-equatorial propagation extends into both Europe
and the US, but we can do better than most.

During the Nineties, I put in several consecutive Single Operator
All Band efforts in the CQ World Wide DX Contest on CW, but never
managed to place better than 12th in the world. The worst placing
was 15th, though, so we're not too far out of the ballpark.

My most competitive efforts have been in the single band categories:

CQWW CW 14 MHz world win, 1988: ZS6BCR (includes all 40 zones!).

WPX CW 28 MHz world record, 1991: ZS6BCR.

CQWW RTTY 28 MHz world record, 1991: ZS6BCR.

CQWW RTTY 21 MHz world second and African record, 1992: ZS6EZ.

CQWW RTTY 28 MHz world win, 1993: ZS6EZ.

CQWW RTTY 7 MHz world record, 1996: ZS6EZ.

CQWW CW 7 MHz 1996, 2nd world: ZS6P (over 2000 contacts).

CQWW CW 28 MHz 1999, 2nd world/new African record: ZS6EZ.

CQWW RTTY 28 MHz 2000, new world single band record: ZS6EZ.

CQWW SSB 28 MHz 2000, second world: ZS6EZ (40 zones in 21 hrs!).

CQWW CW 28 MHz 2000, world win: ZS6EZ.

ARRL 10 m Contest, world win/African record, ZS6Z (op. JM1CAX).

Several of these efforts included memorable experiences. Working
all forty zones on 14 MHz CW in the 1988 contest, and then repeating
the feat on 28 MHz SSB in just 21 hours in the 2000 contest must
certainly rate as highlights. Smashing the old world record in the
1999 CW contest by almost 10%, only to be beaten by ZX5J (N6TJ) by 1%
was a real disappointment! However, anyone who has operated from
Zone 38 will probably agree that the 1996 contest season was the
most challenging, and the most gratifying if one ignores the world-wide
ranking. Forty is a difficult band from here, with thunderstorm static
in the contest season, short nights, and with a long way between us and
the population centres. It's really tough to compete with the northern
hemisphere on the low bands!

I guess contest trophies generally don't come as a surprise. One
enters a category, works hard and expects to do well. Sometimes one
gets pipped at the post, but normally one knows up front whether one
is in the running. However, occasionally an unexpected honour comes
one's way. The Araucaria DX Group's Certificate of Merit was such
an honour. The ADXG is based in southern Brazil, and includes the
likes of PY5EG, N5FA and PY5CC. I was amazed to learn many years
later that award number 36 had been issued to me in 1993. The
certificate didn't get to me at the time, and I was blissfully
unaware of having won it until I stumbled across a list of winners
in a magazine! The Group further extended the honour by electing me
as a member during 2002.

Other highlights included being invited to and participating in the
World Radiosport Team Championships in San Fransisco in 1996 and in
Slovenia in 2000.

WRTC 1996 in San Fransisco was the first formally-organised
WRTC, after the trial run that coincided with the Goodwill Games in
Seattle, after the Iron Curtain came crashing down. Jan van Niekerk
ZS6NW, then in the process of settling down in the USA as N3NW, was
my teammate in Team Africa. This contest was my first exposure to
offshore contesting, with loud signals, unlimited pileups and lots of
contacts, despite the modest antennas and power.

At WRTC 2000 in Slovenia, teammate
Bernie van der Walt ZS4TX and
I made up Team Africa. Once again, WRTC was a
wonderful experience. We spent
more than a week socialising with other high-powered radio amateurs,
and enjoying a relaxed time in the Alps. WRTC is definitely worth
taking in.

WRTC 2002 took place in Finland in July 2002. Bernie and I also attended,
under the heading "Team Africa". The bad news is that it did not
go well in the contest. Given the repeatable performances that the top few
teams have managed to produce, very few excuses can hold, so we're not
offering any!

Anyone who dabbles in DXing and contesting will have noticed that the
Finns stand tall in competitive amateur radio, and they certainly managed
to live up to the high standards set by previous organisers. Socially, the
event was a lot of fun, and their cellphone network ensured that spectators
all around the world could see how teams were doing, as scores were updated
every hour through an SMS server. WRTC was, again, organised to coincide with
the IARU Radiosport Championship in July. All WRTC participants were provided
with similar locations, similar antennas and similar callsigns, so as to ensure
the most equal conditions possible. The teams remained anonymous and competed
only among themselves, as the scoring system was different to that used for the
IARU Radiosport Championship.

Team Africa was watched by Lee Volante G0MTN, himself an
experienced contester. We had something over 1700 QSOs in the 24
hours, using a tribander, a dipole and a 100 W transmitter.

I missed WRTC in Brazil and Russia while raising my daughter. However, I'm
looking forward to acting as a referee at WRTC 2014 in New England. I'm
hoping to use the opportunity to operate from Zone 2 before the contest.

The 2000 contest season was possibly the most successful ever.
I decided to stick to 28 MHz, and did a lot of antenna work. The
80 m beam came down, and was replaced by a long boom 7 element
monobander for multiplier spotting. A total of five beams and
multi-receiver capability proved well worth while. The station
grew between the RTTY and CW contests to multi-radio capability
with simultaneous multiplier spotting in the same band while
calling CQ. A separate vertically-polarised spotting beam was used
for this purpose.

Despite software problems, the CQWW/RJ RTTY contest resulted in
a new world single band record, very close to double the old mark.
SSB was less successful, but still resulted in a second place
behind ZX5J. The CW contest
was plagued by problems, but resulted in a world win, with a score
just slightly below the world record. The season concluded with
another world win, this time with JM1CAX piloting the station with
the club callsign, ZS6Z, to take the honours in the ARRL 10 m
Contest. The score appears to be an African record.

Koji's win was not the first success by a guest operator at ZS6Z.
DK3GI had pulled off a second place on CW in the 1999 WAE DX Contest.

For the 2001 contest season, I was planning to rearrange the station
for some single-band action on 21 MHz and a possible All Band effort
on CW. However, my rotator was only shipped from California around the
end of October, and did not arrive before the end of the year.
For the first time in 20 years, I completely missed the CW contest.

Unfortunately, from about 2000 to 2013 other commitments took their
toll. I did not work a single contest between 2000 and 2014, except as an
operator at WRTC 2002 and as part of the Multi-Two crew at ZS9X in CQWW
Phone 2008. Most of my energy went into my daughter, my studies, my work
and my flying school.

Around 2014, some of these commitments started winding down, and I finally
had the opportunity to play with my radio again. Since then, I have attended
WRTC in New England as a referee, operated from places as varied as Labrador,
the Caribbean and Southeast Asia. I was also invited to a fun multi-multi from
AA4HP for the 2015 IARU HF Championship. Apart from stellar hospitality by Hank
and Stephanie Phillips and Chris Plumblee WF3C, I savoured the opportunity to
operate a good station in a real contest again. It certainly whetted my appetite.

In 2015, I took a trip to operate the CQ World Wide CW DX Contest with
PJ2T in Curacao. It was a delightful experience. Working 28 and 3,5 MHz,
I had one of my most exhilirating contesting experiences ever as I finally
saw for myself why the Caribbean is a prime contesting site. Running Europe
on 80 while picking up the multipliers on the second VFO was quite unlike
anything I've ever had in southern Africa!

2016 brought another pleasant surprise, in the form of two unsolicited
local honours. The first was the SARL's Willy Wilson Gold Badge, awarded for
"exceptional and meritorious service to the League". The second was
being voted one of the inaugural nine members of the SARL's Amateur Radio
Hall of Fame. This Hall of Fame was instituted to preserve the memory of
individuals who contributed significantly to the development of amateur radio
in southern Africa. Members range from early pioneer John Streeter ZS1W, who
was active in the 1920s, to five individuals that are still active.

The Station

I started building a big contest station on a ridge outside
Pretoria in 1996. The station
was never quite complete, but several pieces of noteworthy hardware
were in operation at times. The station produced a handful of
competitive scores. Examples include a world 7 MHz record in the
CQ/DJ World Wide RTTY contest, and a world-record-breaking effort in the
1999 CW CQWW DX Contest.
Unfortunately, I ended up getting beaten in this contest, but the
thrill of handsomely breaking the old world record in a very
competitive category will not easily be forgotten.

The pictures were
taken in 1998, when several new towers were in the process of
springing up. At the time, I lived in the small house, while
Hal Lund ZS6WB lived in the big house for several years. We
had some spectacular mutual interference when we were on the
same band, but fortunately Hal was mainly a VHF guy and I
seldom got on the air. Some of the pictures were added after
DK3GI's visit in 1999.

The station eventually included several antenna stacks, including
a three-high stack on 28 MHz, a two-high stack on 21 MHz and a
single beam on 14 MHz, all on a rotating tower. The tower is still up,
but most the antennas are not. The 14 MHz beam is at 42 m (138'). It
was a wonderful performer. Everything between 17 and 45 m
(56 and 148') rotated. This tower was used for the primary stack on
28 MHz in the 2000 contest season. I used
WX0B's switch gear
to switch the stack and to connect the various antennas to the two
radios. The audio was done with ZS4TX's Super Combo Keyer.

I used the Yaesu FT1000MP as my prime HF radio, and the Icom IC746 as
a secondary HF and prime VHF radio. Both are wonderful machines,
with a level of performance that was barely imaginable when I was
licenced. Unfortunately, a lightning strike destroyed both radios some
years ago, and a charlatan convinced the insurance that he could repair
the radios. After numerous trips to and from his workshop, the radios are
still inoperable, and I'm confined to my little IC706.

My logging computer was a simple machine running DOS, and TRLog and
WF1B software. Someone came and collected it one night when I was not
home. I'm sure they were hoping for more than a 386 running DOS, though...

The End

During 1997, my daughter was born. During 1999, I joined the South
African Air Force Reserve as a volunteer pilot. In 2003, I started a
flying school. Around 2008, I started
working on a PhD. These hobbies have consumed all my spare time to the
extent that ham radio is but a fond memory. I tried to maintain my position
on the DXCC Honor Roll, but missed several new countries. My contest records
toppled one by one. DX scores have risen meteorically since the advent of
spotting networks, and it's just a matter of time before my callsign
disappears off all the records tables.

Right now, I only have a small tribander and a few wires for the low bands.
My biggest amplifier is a small transistor job. I can put a signal on the air,
but I'm certainly not a Big Gun.

Even this chapter will come to a close soon when my property
is redeveloped with high-density apartments. The towers will come
down and I may have to relocate to a place without antennas. Not having
tall towers in the back yard will make it even harder to keep a finger
on the DX pulse.

I long back to ham radio, and may make a comeback one day. However,
for the moment, other priorities require my attention. I still occasionally
browse the Internet for some news, still keep the DXing scores up
to date on the Web and still keep in touch with several friends from
ham radio. Until I do manage to stage a comeback, I'll just remind
myself that it's better to be a has-been, than not to have been at all...

There is some light on the horizon, though. My daughter doesn't feel that
she needs my attention any more. I've sold the flying school. The Air Force has
not used volunteers much recently. And my PhD will probably come to an end one
day, although it doesn't feel like it. I've bought some land a little further
from Pretoria, and have gradually started developing a new station there.
Stay tuned!

Perspectives Gallery

I've started compiling a collection of short articles
with perspectives on various amateur radio issues. These are my
perspectives, so you could dismiss them as biased opinions. You
are absolutely correct with your classification, but dismissing
them is not the idea. I'd much prefer if you could share your own
perspectives with me, provided that they're reasoned and not just
a knee-jerk reaction. If you try to justify something just because
'that's the way it's always been', please excuse the inevitable
rather cold shoulder. However, I'd love to hear new angles if you
have them. I might even add your inputs to my articles, or adjust
my content to make use of the new insights.

This gallery is initially being created with only a handful of
articles in it. It may grow with time. Growth rate is not
guaranteed, but it's probably worth while checking back once in
a while to see if there's anything new to disagree with.

Duping (2000-08):
This piece suggests a way to handle the issue of duplicate contacts
on bands with limited propagation. It's currently a hot item of
discussion in the 50 MHz fraternity, while exotic DX opportunities
appear at sporadic intervals.

The Dating Game (2000-12): A piece on date formats. Dates became a hot topic around the
Y2K event, but most people seem set in their ancient ways. Could we
be doing better?

Those Blank QSL Cards
(2000-12): A piece on those blank QSL cards that we all
receive from time to time. Or could it maybe rather be a perspective
on the seriousness of DXing and amateur radio in general?

Electronic QSLing
(2000-12): We'd all love them, and they're definitely
on the way. Are the systems springing up now the answer? This article
evolved over several months, with inputs from many role players. It
is now somewhat dated, as it predates the ARRL's Logbook of the World,
but it outlines all the important issues and includes links to
cryptography tutorials. This article became compulsory reading for
the LotW development team, and is recommended by the prime system
architect as an outline of the relevant issues.

Assessing your DXCC Scores
(2001-01): We all know that a score of 300 is better than
200. But by how much? This short article shows you a way to rate your
DXCC scores on a scale of 1 to 10. The bad news: If you're on the Honor
Roll, you're exactly half way to the top!

Guest operations in South Africa
(2002-01): After repeated requests by foreigners who wanted to
operate from South Africa, and who had no joy working through the
South African Radio League, I compiled this document to enable visitors
to operate from South Africa. Despite initial indications that visitors
could obtain local callsigns, the licencing authority has now decided
that only residents qualify for this privilege. We're in the process
of addressing this problem, but for the moment visitors can obtain
reciprocal operating privileges (with a "portable" callsign) relatively
easily.

Tutorials

I've made a start with assembling some tutorials
for beginners and advanced operators alike. One day when I'm grown up
I'll have more stuff on contesting, advanced CW operation and a few other
topics, but for now there are just a few. Examples include:

How to improve your QSL
returns (2001-05): QSLing could be a relatively modest
formality, or it can take over your life. Most DXers complain about
poor returns, yet some seem to have almost 100% success. This article
lists a few pointers that could put you on the road to success, and
keep down the time and money that you spend on this chore. There are
also several guidelines for using the South African QSL bureau.

How to make a Morse Code
contact (2001-12): This step-by-step tutorial
contains everything you need, not only to survive that first
contact, but also to learn to enjoy Code and actually do it
well. Even if you detested learning it in the first place...

QSL Management

I have always managed my own QSLs, as well as those of all my
DXpeditions. I have also handled the cards for "offshore"
operations by my friend Chris de Beer ZS6RI (ex ZS5IR), ZS8IR,
5H4IR, 5H9IR and ZD9IR. You can read about his activities
as ZD9IR on the ZD9IR News Page. I
also hold a complete set of logs for all previous ZS8 operations
from Marion Island (ZS8MI, ZS8IR and ZS8D). I was never the manager
for ZS8MI, but the NCDXF supplied cards to help those who could never
confirm this callsign before. Unfortunately, ZS8MI
became active again from 2004, and those QSLs proved as hard to
obtain as some from the past. Chaos has returned.

I have sent over 220 000 QSL cards over the years. In principle,
I confirm all bureau and direct requests. However, because of the
sheer volume and the fact that I have not yet retired, I have made
some policy decisions that may mean that the occasional bureau
request falls through the cracks. If you've had no luck getting
a card, you have probably been the victim of a mail problem or
some other misunderstanding, rather than a malicious, buck-grabbing
QSL manager.

Couldn't find it?

If you're looking for specific information on this site and
haven't found it, here's an index to help you:

ZD9IR News Page: Chris de Beer
ZS6RI spent a year on Gough Island in 2004, as leader of the
meteorological team there. This page included updates on his
activity, and provided links to the Gough Island newsletters.

ZS Rogues' Gallery: Includes
operating achievements by South Africans both in fast and slow
contests (i.e. DXing).

ZS6EZ Station Description:
This section is where you will find some pictures on this
Web site! There is also some narrative on two-radio operations
and some of the custom-made parts in the station, and a thank-you
to those who made it happen.

ZS6EZ QSLing Policy: Tells you how
your QSL request will be handled, for ZS6EZ and other callsigns
that I manage.

ZS6EZ QSLing FAQ: Hopefully answers
some of the questions you might have about the policy document.

ZS6EZ QSLing Status Report: Tells
you when a specific bureau or direct batch was sent, or when it
will be if it hasn't already been.